15-year Mayor Will Face Two Foes

HOLLYWOOD — Mayor David Keating, an unabashed populist who says personal contact with voters is the key to his success, is striving for a political milestone.

If re-elected this March, Keating, 77, will mark a quarter century in local politics. Come April 19, he will have served 15 years as mayor, and, before that, 10 years as a city commissioner.

However, two candidates want to oust Keating before he can celebrate his silver anniversary in City Hall.

Political observers in Hollywood, including State Rep. Fred Lippman, D- Hollywood, and County Commissioner Nicki Grossman, say the challengers are the toughest Keating has faced.

``I can say to you honestly that in all the years I`ve been here, I`ve never seen as substantive opposition,`` said Lippman, who has not endorsed any candidate. ``I believe there are people who feel that Hollywood needs a new look and a change.``

The challengers, community activist Mara Giulianti and bank executive Andy Molinari, say that the mayor is out of touch with the complexities of modern government and that Hollywood, Broward`s second-largest city, has outgrown the mayor`s folksy style.

``Hollywood has grown up, but (Keating) views Hollywood as the same town it was when he arrived in the 1940s,`` said Giulianti, 41, who was City Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger`s campaign manager in 1982 and a key campaign aide to U.S. Rep. Larry Smith, D-Hollywood, in 1982 and 1984.

``You can`t live in the past,`` said Molinari, 31, an activist with the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. ``Overall, his attitude is `Don`t change anything here, I want Hollywood to be how it was in 1950.` ``

Keating, who came to Hollywood in 1948 and won his first commission race in April 1961, scoffs at the opposition.

He refers to Giulianti and Molinari as political neophytes who are exceeding their grasp in their first attempt at elective office.

``Usually you start as a commissioner,`` Keating said. ``You don`t want anyone without any experience to be mayor, do you?``

Keating`s bid for an eighth mayoral term comes at a crucial time for the city. Taxes are increasing while services are decreasing. The city is trying to rejuvenate the downtown area and Central Beach. The tax base, after years of growth, is stagnant, and the population has decreased slightly.

As a result, civic association leaders in west Hollywood, Liberia, Hollywood Hills and business leaders say they want a new mayor.

``The mayor`s past his prime,`` said Ann McGrath, a civic leader in west Hollywood.

But the mayor won`t be easy to unseat, his commission colleagues say.

``Dave Keating is dumb like a fox,`` said Commissioner Cathy Anderson. ``He knows politics and he knows Hollywood. He hasn`t lost yet.``

In many ways, Keating is a throwback to an era when life moved a little slower and a politician could gauge the pulse of the public on any given issue by counting the number of supporters and opponents in the commission chambers.

His door, so to speak, is always open, and the mayor takes pride in lending a few dollars here and there to the down and out. He regularly visits constituents at their homes when they have problems and attends a different church or synagogue each weekend to meet people. He usually speaks in political slogans and supports such popular causes as hiring more police and firefighters to protect the city`s 122,000 residents.

``Some people criticize me for being a populist, but that`s how I keep getting re-elected. I take the people`s side,`` he said.

That attitude, Giulianti and Molinari said, is precisely what has caused Hollywood`s ills. Today`s leader, they think, needs to look at Hollywood realistically, realize its problems and put forth ideas to solve them.

``I`m not running on the platform of `Is he able to govern?` but `Is he the appropriate choice to govern?` `` Giulianti said. ``Is it appropriate to keep Hollywood a small town in the 1980s?``

Keating`s political career has been marked by his opposition to development and his steadfast resistance to Hollywood Inc., the development company that built much of the city.

Keating opposes the construction of new hotels on the beach, of massive housing developments and towering office buildings. He fears new development will lead to increased traffic, too many people and a lower quality of living.

``Hollywood, you know, is the greatest city in the world,`` Keating often says. ``We don`t need any drastic changes. The beach - it`s not as bad as they say. And downtown, why, all the problems would be solved if people would shop there instead of at malls.``

Keating is often a lone voice on the commission but says he does not mind the minority status so long as a dissenting voice is recorded and his colleagues realize that not everybody is as happy about new development as they are.

Keating`s role as a key figure in Hollywood began in 1948 when he and his first wife, Sarah, moved to the city from Baltimore. Sarah died of cancer in 1984, and Keating was married this year to Joan Milberry, 51.